Dispensing container



` DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed oct. 28, 1942 IN V EN TOR.

/0 /0' HynaLpfelbaUm Patented June 20, 1944 intatte UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE s 2,352,066' E' v DISPENSING CoNTAiNER Huna L. Apfelbaum, Brooklyn, assigner to Victor Metal Products Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 28, 1942, Serial No. '463,649 2 Claims. `((kll. 20S-42) This invention relates to containers or vials for holding and dispensing pills, tablets or the like.

The invention contemplates the provision of a generally elongated container, such as a vial or pill box having a removable cap or cover in the lateral surface of which is formed an opening through which a single pill or tablet at a time may be discharged, and which opening is normally covered by a manually rotatable shutter effective to exclude dust, dirt and foreign matter from the interior of the container and movable to expose the opening.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a container adapted to be economically molded of suitable plastic and having a shuttered discharge opening, the inside of the container being free of partitions or obstructions.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a resilient shutter adapted to be readily sprung into its operative position and having a nger piece serving the double purpose of aidin`g to support and guide the shutter during its movement and of providing a manually engageable means for the ready manipulation of the Shutter to open and close the discharge opening of the container in which the shutter is mounted.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawing, in which,

Fig. l is a perspective View of my improved container.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section thereof.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing in dotted lines, the closed position of the shutter.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of the container showing the shutter open to expose the vdischarge opening.

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the same but showing the shutter in the position closing the discharge opening.

In the practical embodiment of the invention shown by way of example, all of the parts, which in this case are shown as three in number, are preferably though not necessarily molded of suitable plastic, it being understood that metal, paper or other suitable material in sheet or other form may be used instead if desired and if available. The container part I0 is closed at one end, and at the other open end, it is preferably reduced in diameter to form the shoulder I2, the reduced part being preferably externally screw threaded as at I I.

The cap or cover is removable and is correspondingly internally screw threaded as at I4,

the open end of the cap having an end surface I5 adapted to engage the shoulder II to form a tight joint, with or without an intervening washer or gasket. For ease in manufacture and for the purpose of easy removal of the cap when filling the container I0 with pills, the cap terminatesat its bottom portion in an enlarged and knurl'ed or externally grooved linger grip portion i6. YIt will b'e'vunderstood however, that once :the container is filled, the cap may be screwed into place and need not be removed until the containeris empty.

In the lateral or side surface or cylindrical wall of the cap is made the discharge opening I'I of peculiar shape. The upper part of the opening may be of any suitable shape such as semi-circular and ofa-size suiicient to permit the passage of a single pill therethrough at a time. The lower edge I'f8 of the openingY however, is arranged any desired or convenient distance above the uppermost edge I9 of the container in that position of the parts wherein the cap has been tightened on the 'container part -I Il. Said edge I8 lies in a plane perpendicular 5to the axis of the cap, or in other words, it is a circumferential edge. A circumfrential extension 2D of the discharge opening, smaller than the main discharge opening, is provided for the reception of the iinger piece 2| (Fig. 4) when the main discharge opening is exposed' by the movement of the rotatable sleevelike shutter 22. The nger piece may be molded integrally with the shutter and has a preferably flat' bottom face 23 slidable on the edge I8 and serving to prevent downward displacement of the shutter from its proper position. Upward displacement is prevented by the engagement of the uppermost edge of the'shutter with the under face ofthe top wall o f the' cap. Thel shutter is therefore held against movement vertically within the cap by the edge I8 and the edge-engaging finger piece 2I, and the top of the cap.

The shutter 22 is preferably thin and in the form of an incomplete hollow cylinder or sleeve open at both ends, and having free spaced edges 24, 25. Even when made of plastic, owing to its general form of a curved sheet spring, the shutter is sufliciently resilient to be sprung into the Cap through the Open end of the cap, by squeezing together the upright terminal side edges 24 and 25 to reduce temporarily the diameter of the shutter, until the nger piece 2| is completely inside of the cap. The edges of the shutter may then be released and the shutter pushed further into the cap until its upper edge 26 engages the under surface 21 of the cap top, the shutter beingA turned if necessary so that the finger piece registers with the opening extension 20, whereupon the shutter, owing to its inherent resiliency, expands to its normal shape and the finger piece enters the extension. It will be understood that the outer surface of the shutter in its released or normal position engages and slides upon the inner cylindrical surface of the cap, the shutter being held in place between the 4surface 21 and the edge I8 by the engagement with said edge of the bottom face 23 of the nger piece. The spring tendency to expand inherent in the shutter serves to maintain it in place against accidental displacement, but does not interfere with or materially resist deliberate movement of the shutter. 'i

The distance between the edges 24 and 25 of the shutter being greater thanthe width of the main part of the discharge opening I'I, said opening is entirely exposed when the finger piece is rotated until it enters the extension 20. Preferably the shutter extends below the discharge opening, the lower edge 28- of the shutter being below the edge I8, whereby the dischargeopening is completely covered whenV the shutter is closed. In such closed position, the edge 24 of the shuter may coincide with or extend slightly past the corresponding nearer edge of the opening, but the edge 25 is preferably in circumferential spaced relation to the opening (Figs. 2 and 3).

Preferably also, the height of the shutter is such that when the bottom or end surface I of the cap engages the shoulder I2 of the container, the lower edge ofthe shutter is above the top I 9 of the container. Consequently, tightening of the cap does no-t interfere with the rotation of the shutter, which is operated to open and close the discharge opening merely by sliding the finger piece 2I in theV proper direction on the edge I3, the outer face-of the shutter being in frictional contact with the inner surface of the cap during its movement. If the inner diameter of the shutter in its normal position is made about equal to the inner diameter of the container part I0, then there is no obstruction to the free movement of the pills from the container part into the interior of the cap I3 and toward the discharge opening. i I

To discharge a pill, the finger piece is moved in a counterclockwise direction from the position of Fig. 5 to that of Fig. 4 and the container is tilted downwardly into the position of Fig.l 1 in which the discharge opening is undermost. Only one pill can pass through the opening at a time, and when one pill is so discharged, the container is righted to prevent others from passing out of the opening. The shutter is then closed by a simple movement of the finger piece in a clockwise direction. The supply of pills may readily be maintained in the container part by removing the cap together with shutter as a unit and then inserting pills in the container part and screwing the cap back into place.

It will be seen that I have provided a simple, economical and easily operated dispensing container adapted to be molded of plastic, employing few parts and in which the interior is unobstructed and free movement of the contents possible and hence by means of which even fragile pills or tablets may be easily dispensed without danger of breaking or powdering, the contents also being adequately protected against contamination by dust or dirt.

It will be obvious that changes in the structure shown and described and within the spirit of the invention may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a container, a screw cap having a top and a depending wall, the wall having a discharge opening therein, said opening having a flat lower edge, and a semi-circular upper edge, said opening having a substantially rectangular extension continuous with said lower edge and extending past the upper edge at one side thereof, a movable shutter having an outer surface engaging the inner surface of said wall and slidable thereon about the axis of the cap, said shutter being a hollow cylinder of uniform thickness, uniform inner diameter throughout and uniform outer diameter throughout, said shutter having upright terminal side edges spaced apart a distance at least that of the width of the opening, the upper end of the shutter engaging the under surface of the cap top, and a finger piece on the shutter projecting through the opening and having a flat bottom edge engaging the flat edge of the opening and constituting the sole means for supporting the shutter4 against axial movement away from said cap top.

2. In a container, a cap having a top and a depending wall, an inner generally cylindrical surface on said wall, the wall having a discharge opening therein, provided with a fiat bottom edge and an arcuate upper edge, a resilient hollow cylindrical shutterv C-shaped in cross-section fitted to said surface adjacent the opening and of lesser circumference than that of said surface,

said shutter having continuous and uninterrupted inner and outer surfaces, both of uniform diameter throughout and a finger piece having a fiat bottom edge projecting from the shutter through the opening and resting on and manually slidable upon the lowermost flat edge of the o pening to open and close the shutter.-

HUNA L. APFELBAUM. 

